When we called for our first round of nominations for the Homesteader of the Year contest, we never could have predicted the assortment of do-it-yourselfers we’d hear about. Our wide variety of nominees had green thumbs, extensive homesteading knowledge, food preservation skills and more creative DIY projects than you could count. Plus, many had worked their hardest to build more self-reliant communities by sharing their knowledge and resources. We’ve always known that our readers are an admirable bunch, but our Homesteaders of the Year have really blown us away — read all about them below.
Narrowing our nominees down to a few families to feature in print was a nearly impossible task. When it was all said and done, we still couldn’t bear to leave the other family’s stories untold. Here is a collection of all our nominees, both big and small. We hope you find these self-reliant hardworking families as inspiring as we do.
If you know a family that fits the bill, tell us about them! Send a 500-word description of a friend, family member or neighbor you think deserves to be one of our honored homesteaders to Letters@MotherEarthNews.com with the subject line “Homesteaders of the Year.” Don’t forget to include several photos.
In addition to our annual Homesteader of the Year contest, we also co-host International Homesteading Education month with Grit magazine. The goal of the skill-sharing event is to foster neighbors helping neighbors — building more self-reliant communities. Click here to sign up to host an event or register as a speaker, and peruse our searchable event listing to find out the happenings your neighbors are offering.
Our 2012 Homesteaders of the Year: Living the Good Life Through Modern Homesteading
